


How She Feels

by paperjamBipper



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, I just. I love these two so much okay, Physical hurt/comfort, Platonic Relationships, Tumblr Prompt, let me live, maui's finally warming up to moana, protective maui, tamatoa comes up a few times in conversation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 21:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11299479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperjamBipper/pseuds/paperjamBipper
Summary: A follow-up, of sorts, to How He Feels, based on a prompt sent in by an anon on Tumblr.It's been weeks since his encounter with Tamatoa. Maui's fine, his injuries are taken care of, and he's ready to move on and save the world. Only problem is that now Moana's the one acting strange, brushing her own injuries like they're nothing, and he's not sure what to do about it.





	How She Feels

**Author's Note:**

> Are you still taking prompt ideas for Moana? I had this idea after reading "How He Feels" and rewatching the Tamatoa scene (but I don't trust myself to write it)... Even though Maui takes the main beating, Moana still gets fairly beaten up as between Tamatoa's pincers. What if she was more injured than she let on but her injury became more apparent later after Maui really starts to trust her and then has to help take care of her?
> 
> Just a heads up, just like in How He Feels, I do go into a brief description of Moana’s injuries, but they’re not as bad as his were, and she’s not bleeding, but they’re still pretty unpleasent. Proceed with caution if this makes you uncomfortable.
> 
> Enjoy!

The first thing that gives it away is the way she moves around the deck slower than she should be. Moana spends the first half of their trip _begging_ and _pleading_ for him to teach her to sail, and now that he’s actually eager and willing, she moves around the deck like she’s afraid it’ll splinter in half under her feet? Maui really would’ve thought she’d be more excited about this. Sure, she hasn’t stopped grinning since he began, and when she stops in her wayfinding to ask him a question about how can she do _this_ like he is or how can she learn to do _that_ faster she speaks so quickly he’s had to ask her to repeat herself multiple times, but Maui was kinda expecting her to be flying all over the place to unfurl the sail or to climb the mast to check their surroundings as well.

She’s being cautious. Which, by all means, shouldn’t bother Maui at all. You’re _supposed_ to take wayfinding carefully; you’re _supposed_ to take it slow, because if you’re not careful you can take a wrong turn and before you know it find yourself _hours_ off course. But Moana’s moving more like she’s _afraid,_ like she’s worried if she missteps _once_ then the entire vessel would fall apart, which isn’t like the Moana he’s really grown to know and like at _all._

The second, and more obvious that gives it away, is her little gasp of pain. It’s a small thing, quiet enough that Maui almost didn’t hear it, but the silence surrounding them made it just loud enough that it was able to reach him from the other side of the deck.

Moana’s not even doing anything remotely physical. She’s taking a break from her _hours_ of ceaseless wayfinding, and she’s reaching down into the storage compartment for a piece of fruit. Maui would’ve thought it was just because her dumb chicken mistook her dangling fingers for a flying bug and started pecking at it, and he’s all about ready to dismiss her small noise with an amused snort and an eye roll.

But then the ocean suddenly deposits HeiHei on the deck in front of him from where he’d apparently fallen overboard, and Maui frowns.

“Moana?” Maui asks, and Moana starts at the name. And apparently because doing _that_ was a mistake, her little inadvertent flinch at being called is immediately followed by a larger flinch with an additional small hiss of pain. Maui’s frown deepens, and he shakes his head.

“Are you okay?” He asks, and Moana freezes at his question.

“Huh?” She stands, and drops her arms to her side as she turns to face him. “I’m great! Couldn’t be happier” Moana grins, but the effect is kind of lost when she winces from doing apparently _nothing._

Maui’s frown deepens. “Moana,” he repeats, lower this time. “You know you can tell me if something’s bothering you, right?” Maui starts. “I’ve already told you _my_ tragic backstory, so I think it might be time that _you_ tell _me_ yours”

Moana snorts, and rolls her eyes at him. “It’s not that” she says, amused. “Really, Maui, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it”. She grins, and Maui would believe her except for the fact that she _keeps wincing at nothing._

Maui unwinds the halyard from around his wrist, and ties it in a loose knot to allow the canoe to slow. He stands, and approaches her cautiously.

“Moana.” He starts, and reaches to place a gentle hand on her shoulder, set on figuring out what’s bothering her. Moana spent _hours_ talking him down, reassuring him that he is more than where he comes from. He’s more than his past, more than the family who abandoned him, more than the gods who raised him, more than the hook they provided him. She sat down beside him and refused to leave his side until he was convinced that _he_ is the only one who makes him who he is, and that he shouldn’t let anyone convince him otherwise. He owes the kid, really. 

But before he can even ask her what’s wrong, right as he touches her shoulder, she flinches, and takes a half-step backwards.

For the briefest of seconds, Maui’s frown darkens. “You’re hurt” he murmurs, and Moana frowns as she takes that half-step back towards him. She frowns, but doesn’t respond.

Her silence is the only answer he needs.

“How? When?” Maui asks, and goes to reach for her again before remembering what happened last time and dropping his hands down to his side helplessly. “Was it recent?” He asks, and instead settles for taking a step closer to her.

Moana blinks, taken aback by all of the sudden questions. She goes to rub at her arm, apparently realizes how bad of an idea that is, and drops her arm down to her side. “Yes?” She replies sheepishly, her gaze turning to something behind him, and Maui turns to follow her gaze, only to find himself staring at the horizon line. He frowns, and goes to turn back around to push for more details, when it hits him that she’s actually looking somewhere _past_ the horizon line.

A thought comes to him, and he’s hit with so much anger and so much resentment all at once that his hands clench into tight fists inadvertently at his sides as he turns back to look at her.

“ _He_ did this to you, didn’t he?” Maui asks, not even giving that flashy, overbearing crustacean the honor of mentioning his name.

Moana blinks again, and eyes him like she’s unsure how he’ll react to her answer. She’s quiet for a long time, long enough that Maui almost thinks that she’s not going to answer.

“Yeah” she replies quietly, and Maui sighs heavily as he pinches at the bridge of his nose. Of course. This is _right_ up Tamatoa’s alley. Although Maui was... _occupied,_ with other things at the time, he wouldn’t put it past Tamatoa at _all_ to swing and toss Moana around as he sang to her. He's always been one for dramatics, for trying to show whoever encounters him that he’s boss, and he’s willing to use any means necessary to prove that to whoever falls on his bad side.

That part, he understands. But the part he’s missing, the part he can’t seem to wrap his head around, is why Moana hadn’t mentioned it earlier. Why she seemed to have brushed her injuries aside like they didn’t matter in the least.

Maui frowns, and turns his attention back to Moana. “But we left Lalotai almost _two weeks_ ago, Moana, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Moana goes to shrug, but then catches herself and stops. “I wasn’t thinking about myself when we left Lalotai.” she states matter-of-factly. “I was worried about you.”

Something in him softens at her words, and he catches himself before a small smile can spread to his face. Maui shakes his head. “I’m fine now, Moana” he starts, and lets that smile spread across his face at his next sentence. “All thanks to you”.

After they escaped Lalotai, Maui had tried to ignore his injuries. He’s a demigod, he knew they were going to heal with or without treatment, and he didn’t want to waste time or worry Moana with trying to bother getting them healed. He had tried distancing himself as they healed, tried to look away from her as he tried to mend his wounds himself. But Moana’s smart, and eventually her curiosity got the best of her and she figured it out for herself.

And without hesitation, she offered him her aid. Claimed saving the entire world from a blight he’d caused in the first place could wait. She dedicated her time to him, to mending his injuries herself, and refused to leave him alone until he was better.

At the time he tried to brush it off. Because to him, it was stupid that some mortal had to help him heal his own injuries. That she was so insistent on taking care of him herself.

But now? After everything they’ve been through? After everything she’s said and done for him? Her patience? Her kindness?

Well, now Maui can’t help but feel...grateful for her.

“The least I can do is help” he tries to insist, and it ends up coming out sounding a lot softer than he intended it to.

Moana eyes him like she’s considering his offer, and blinks, turning around to lean against the mast.

“Fine” she admits, and Maui turns back towards the stern and loosens the halyard even more to slow the canoe to a stop.

“Good”. He tosses behind his shoulder, and then turns to face her. “Now” he says and claps his hands together. “What seems to be bothering you, Curly?”

Moana snorts at his lighthearted tone, and he can physically see her begin to relax.

“I don’t know” Moana puffs air out of her cheeks. “All I know is that everything hurts when I try to move or breathe” she admits, “and I can list a handful of reasons off the top of my head why that could be, but…” she pauses. “It’s never been this bad before”

Alarm bells start ringing loudly in Maui’s head at _when I try to breathe._ He frowns. “Where does it hurt?” He asks, desperately trying to keep the worry out of his voice.

Moana frowns, and twists her mouth, like she has to think about where it hurts the most, and goes to reach for her chest. “Right here” she says, and tries to place her hand on the exact spot before pulling away and shaking her hand out like touching it _singed_ her.

Maui frowns, and from somewhere deep inside him his hatred towards Tamatoa increases even more. There’s only one reason Moana would be hurting this much, why it hurts her to even move, to even _breathe,_ and that have to be because Tamatoa broke a few of her ribs.

And as if on cue, like Moana bringing it up is what causes it to appear, the next time Maui looks at her he sees a dark blotch of bruises forming in a circle around her chest.

“How long has it been?” He asks, trying to look anywhere but at her injured chest.

“A few days”

Go figure.

Maui doesn’t respond, and instead returns to the canoe’s storage compartment. He rummages past the food, past the rolls of bandages, and quietly sighs to himself in relief when he comes across a number of sacks full of water. He picks one up, and feels even more so when he finds that the water inside still feels cold. He puts it down, and picks up a few others to see if he can find a colder one, and comes up with one of the few that still remain full, feeling victorious.

“Here” he says, and holds it out to her. “Hold this up to where it hurts. You don’t need to put pressure on it, but you do need to let the cold touch it. It should help it stop hurting so much”.

Moana blinks, a little taken aback, before she takes it from him. “Thanks, Maui” she says, smiling, and tentatively brings the water sack to her chest and holds it against it.

He snorts. “You’re welcome”

“Oh, hush” Moana replies, poking at the water sack to slosh some of the water around. “You got anything else in there you think’ll help?” She asks, and Maui rolls his eyes as he goes back to digging through the storage compartment. For such a small canoe, he’s kind of amazed by how much she managed to fit in here before she left Motunui, and he’s genuinely surprised when he’s actually able to find a _tapa cloth_ hidden in there somewhere.

“This?” He gestures to it as he pulls it out. “This is your new best friend. You might have a lot of trouble falling asleep, so you’re gonna need it to help you fall asleep sitting up, or kneeling, or basically anywhere that isn’t on your sides.” He says, tossing it to her. “You’re also gonna be doing a lot of coughing, so I’d hold that up to your chest when you do that. It probably won’t do much, but at least it’ll make the pain bearable.

Moana folds the _tapa_ under her free arm, and snorts.

“Alright, now you’re just showing off. What else are you hiding in _my_ canoe that’s somehow going to make me all better? Some kind of magical trinket that can heal me just by singing to it?”

Maui snorts, and then goes back to rummaging through to actually look for more stuff that could help her. There’s not much left but the bandages and a bunch of fruit, but neither of those could really help her physically.

“Oh no,” he deadpans. “Looks like we _just_ ran out.”

She sticks her tongue out at him, and goes back to readjusting the water sack she’s holding up against her bruises. “Well, if we’re all out of magic trinkets, is there anything _I’m_ supposed to do?” she starts, just as sarcastically. “Y’know. Other than holding cold water up to my injuries and sleep in a sitting position, apparently.”

He snorts again. “Nothing”.

Moana eyes him like he’s crazy, and he holds his hands up in defense, amused.

"No, Curly, I’m serious. You’re supposed to do nothing. No whacking me with the oar, no fighting any giant crabs, and no wayfinding.”

“Oh”. Moana says, sounding disappointed by his answer. “Then what else am I supposed to do?” She asks, and the _tapa cloth_ slips out from under her arm. She goes to reach down to pick it back up, but Maui frowns, and holds a hand up towards her.

“No, no, let me” He insists, and bends down to pick it up. Maui’s about to hand it back to her, but then an idea stops him. He walks back to the stern of the canoe with the _tapa_ still in one of his hands, and furls the sail until it’s closed all the way with the other. Moana watches him with curiosity, and it only seems to _increase_ when he sets the _tapa_ back down against the mast. He rolls his eyes before he sits down beside it, patting at the empty space in front of the neatly folded _tapa._

“You could sit with me” he suggests, and even though he can’t see her face Maui can tell Moana’s rolling her eyes at him as she cautiously and slowly sinks herself to the ground, pressing her back up against the mast.

Around them, the sun is just beginning to disappear over the horizon. It’s still casting its golden rays weakly over the surface of the water, and if Maui looks up he can begin to see the stars beginning come out. He scooches closer to her, and the two of them sit in peaceful silence as they watch the sun disappear as the moon begins to rise. The only sound breaking the silence is the ocean waves gently lapping against the boat, and the occasional gentle sloshing as Moana adjusts her makeshift icepack.

She eventually abandons the _tapa cloth_ for his shoulder, leaning against it cautiously. He adjusts his arm slightly so she doesn’t have to strain herself so much to lean against him, and before he knows it she’s fast asleep, snoring softly against him.

He doesn’t remember falling asleep, but when the sun rises in the morning and he blinks his eyes open he finds that he’s unconsciously reciprocating Moana’s gesture, leaning against her as well.


End file.
